Antifriction bearings provided or combined with signal devices which derive signals from the operating parameters of the antifriction bearings are already known in a variety of implementations as so-called "sensor bearings". Thus, in the DGM (German Utility Patent) 710 6270 force-sensing bearings are described which are used for the determination of impermissible forces on antifriction bearings and which most frequently in such prior art implementations convert the force-proportional elongation of an outer raceway for the bearings by means of elongation-measuring strips into an electrical signal.
From DE-OS 34 11 0005 a force-sensing bearing with gravitational force-sensor is known.
Other force-sensing bearings with elongation measuring strips in different configurations and implementations are known from DE-OS 27 46 937, DE-6M 84 35 935, DE-OS 27 16 024, DE-OS 27 29 699, and DE-OS 29 35 406.
Force-sensing bearings with piezoelectrical sensors are known from DE-OS 34 13 830.
Torsion-sensing bearings with mechanical determination of angle or torsions are known from DE-OS 29 07 819.
Rotational speed measuring force-sensing bearings which generate a periodic force signal with elongation-measuring strips from a periodic flexure from which the rotational speed is derived are known from DE-OS 26 42 045, DE-P 26 42 080 B2, and DE-P 26 47 440 B2.
By using materials with different coefficients of expansion bearings of the above described type can be used for the simultaneous determination of force and temperature as is known from DE-P 33 13 620 C1.
From DE-OS 34 13 046 A1 it is known to use piezoceramic converters instead of elongation-sensing strips for this purpose.
It is also known from DE-AS 22 11 859 to detect the rotational speed of rotating bodies through the detection of a radioactive marker.
For measuring the rotational speed of antifriction bodies in a rotating antifriction bearing the generation of airborne sound is also known from DE-OS 22 23 704 wherein the tone pitch of a siren-like permanent tone is proportional to the rotational speed.
Also, for monitoring the rotational speed an arrangement is known from DE-OS 29 41 564 in which through passage of the antifriction bodies of a rotating ball bearing periodic voltages are induced in a coil which surrounds a permanent magnet.
Also known from DE-OS 25 05 802 an optically or inductively-acting rotational speed sensor is disposed on a conventional ball bearing.
Also known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,494 is a sensor bearing for measuring the rotational speed in which a multipole magnetic ring, which comprises for example a wire, is disposed jointly with an non-magnetic carrier ring on the inner raceway of an antifriction bearing. Laterally to the non-rotating outer raceway are disposed one or more Hall sensors; the shaft rotational speed of interest in the final analysis corresponds to the inner raceway rotational speed.